Clifford Swan Investment Counsel hosted a very successful session of the Young Stewards Program on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.
The day began with The Million Dollar Challenge, a highly interactive game during which teens worked in teams to manage a fictitious gift of $1,000,000 over a period of three years. Teens expressed their thoughts and shared existing knowledge, as their teams made decisions on how to allocate funds between savings, investing, spending and philanthropy, and chose between entrepreneurial ventures through an analysis of different businesses and their competition. At the end of the game, each team explained the choices they made and shared the lessons they learned.
After a quick break, we switched gears and moved into a budgeting exercise. Teens were asked to think about their career aspirations, and were then provided a chart, listing the average starting salaries in a variety of different professions. They learned the difference between gross and net income, and were then challenged to think about their anticipated spending habits (which were based largely on what they currently enjoy!). The results of this activity were eye-opening for teens, as many of them were over-budget on their expenses.
The final portion of the program introduced the concepts of human, social, intellectual and financial capital. Once teens were given an opportunity to think of their personal assets under each category, parents were invited to join in for a discussion about the family's capital as a whole. The result was great conversation on a topic that not many families had discussed.
Please visit the attached flyer for more information on the program, and give us a call if you have any questions at all! We hope to see you next year!
